Cosplay: 'It is fun to be someone entirely different'
|
Version 0 of 1. Given the abundance of Jedi Knights and Stormtroopers, you could have been forgiven for thinking a new Star Wars movie was being filmed in Pwllheli, north-west Wales, as more than 3,000 science fiction fans gathered for the fifth annual Sci-fi Weekender (SFW5). The highlight of the event was the Masquerade Ball, when fans dressed, or more accurately "cosplayed", as characters from the science fiction and fantasy genres. Cosplay – the blending of "costuming" and "play" – shares superficial similarities with fancy dress, but its proponents say the two are quite different. Victoria Kahl, who attended SFW5 as Jenny Flint from Doctor Who, explains: "Cosplay comes from a Japanese influence. It began with computer game characters, and was about becoming these characters. I do think that costuming and cosplay are two different things. Costuming and fancy dress are a bit of fun. Cosplay is a level up, where you strive for accuracy by looking at every piece of detail of the character." Part of the difference stems from the time and effort dedicated to creating the costume. While costumes can be bought, cosplayers more often handmake them. This can takes months, with only the more complex pieces of armour being ordered from vacuum-forming companies. Retail manager Angel Valentine spent a year creating her Harley Quinn (a Batman character) costume. One of the special guests at SFW5 was Graham McTavish, who is best known for his role as Dwalin in the Hobbit trilogy. He said: "You could put [cosplayers] straight on the screen, given their level of detail." Cosplayers usually have more than one costume for conventions. Jane Ensell had four costumes for SFW5, including two variations of Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones. "It is fun to be someone entirely different," explains Ensell. "I am quite a shy and reserved person. What I love about these characters is that they are strong women who stand up and defend themselves." Samantha Chisnall, who cosplayed Susan Foreman from Doctor Who, recommends that people choose "characters you identify with or have traits you wish you had." But there is also an element of the opposite, too: "As I have quite a responsible job, as a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist, I tend to play villains or frivolous characters." Stature is another obvious factor when choosing who to cosplay. Steven Garner, an advocate for adults with learning disabilities, who was dressed as Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man), pointed out that he would be unable to play, say, Thor, as he doesn't have the height or physique. But, perhaps surprisingly, gender is not as much of a concern as one might think: one group of cosplayers were dressed as a gender-swapped version of the Avengers, with female versions of Loki, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Hulk, as well as a male version of Black Widow. Screen accuracy of the costume is balanced with the cosplayer adopting the personality of the character they are pretending to be, usually when posing for photographs. Others, such as professional costuming group the Galactic Knights, permanently maintain the persona when wearing their costume to preserve the mystique. "If I can possibly, just for a second, make kids believe they have seen Superman," says props fabricator Jimmy Mann, "then that's good; my play time has made kids happy." A cosplay competition allowed people to display their costumes on stage, with the chance of winning tickets to SFW6. But Cosplay is not just limited to conventions: Mark and Nadia shared their mutual love of Doctor Who by cosplaying for their wedding. Mark dressed as The Doctor, whilst Nadia dressed as a representation of the Tardis. For others, it remains a release and a contrast to the rest of their lives. "In my day job I wear a suit and when I go home I play videogames. Then a friend told me about Comic-Con, and I have been in love with it ever since. I'm a massive nerd," laughs Valentine. |